 Poster: A snowHead
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After a recommendation, winter tyres for Audi A3 1.9 205 55 R16, will run them in the UK and for Swiss trips, in April will remove and refit summer tyres. Looking for a mid price tyre. Thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have been very pleased with Vredestien Wintrac Extreme on an A3 - great grip in snow, low noise and good handling. Also have not needed to use chains either.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
Vredestien Wintrac Extreme
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+1
Ran them all summer too. No appreciable wear over a normal summer tyre. I would call it an all-season-but-especially-good-in-the-winter tyre if I were in charge of tyres.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| thunderer wrote: |
| After a recommendation, winter tyres for Audi A3 1.9 205 55 R16, will run them in the UK and for Swiss trips, in April will remove and refit summer tyres. Looking for a mid price tyre. Thanks |
This is the most popular tyre size in the whole of Europe, my old Mondeo had this size and my new Focus is the same. I ordered some back in August when tyres were on special at Costco (got them just in time for Winter in October). It is the first time I have ever had winter tyres in this country and I cannot believe the difference they make. The tyres I have are Michelin Alpina.
The problem you have is I doubt very much you have any chance of getting some. You have to order your winter tyres in the summer to be sure of having them.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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You will be fine.
For your 2012 trip.
By which time you will have changed your car.
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You have to order your winter tyres in the summer to be sure of having them.
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I think that may only be true this year, because of the high demand in Germany. Last year I ordered Vredestein Wintrac tyres on the internet and got them in a couple of days. Different story this year.
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Put some Nokian WR G2s on my car for the winter.Seem to be doing a nice job and look OK as well if that matters.
Check out My Tyres as they do the tyres fitted to steelies also and for some it works out at £10 extra a wheel fitted.
HTH
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| pam w wrote: |
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You have to order your winter tyres in the summer to be sure of having them.
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I think that may only be true this year, because of the high demand in Germany. Last year I ordered Vredestein Wintrac tyres on the internet and got them in a couple of days. Different story this year. |
You may have been lucky, last year I drove a spanking new Focus out of the showroom as soon as the snow came I found out it was rubbish in the snow. Could not get winter tyres from anywhere, it was then I was told to order in Summer, that was by the chap at ATS and I guess he knows a thing or 2 about tyres.
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For the second winter running I am driving on Vredestein Wintrac 4 xtremes. I am not convinced they are as good as they claim to be. There is one particular bend with adverse camber where I slide nearly every time, despite dropping the speed right down. If you look at the reviews they are tested in the dry, in the wet, and on snow - I surmise that means dry snow. But what I have to drive on most of the time in the mountains is a sort of super-cooled slush. They put salt down everywhere, so the slush remains sticky at about minus 7. Every time I park I notice that the treads are completely clogged with semi-frozen slush.
I have been doing a survey in snowy car-parks, and my provisional results (very small sample) are that Michelins, Pirellis and Continentals are better. But best of all seem to be Nokian WRs and Cooper Discoverers.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Two years ago I was using Vredestein Snowtrac 3s on a smaller-wheeled car. They seemed very good. They were 195/60/15s. New car drives on 225/65/17s. I don't know if size makes a difference.
To tyre performance, that is.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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our conti winter contacts have excellent so far this winter and have dealt with everything the mountains have thrown at them.
Demand in Germany can't be that high judging by all the slow wheel spinning german cars on the roads last weekend, also most online tyre places seem to have stock a plenty, I suspect its more UK companys not being able to cope with increased UK demand
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You know it makes sense.
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yeah but thats only in tiny size, doesn't fair so well in the other size they test.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I've a set of Goodride tyres up front on mine. Bought from Mytyres about a month ago for £38 each, delivered from Germany. Unreal performance. I've not even had a wheelspin!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Thanks for your help, sent a few emails to see if any one has any in stock. The old A3 with winter tyres has just been written-off, two weeks ago it was hit by an out of control 4x4  Unfortuntaly the new car has bigger wheels.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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thunderer, Vredstein Wintrac Extremes on my A3 Sport, superb performance, been to Alps 2x and run them all winter, PM me if you want I'm in Leeds and can recommend a good place who'll do you a good deal.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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At the risk of sounding boring, I run Vredstein Wintrac Extremes as well - have done for a couple of years now and find them excellent in all conditions except above about 15C where they start to feel a bit 'soft' on hard cornering, but that is subjective. However, I notice that they are very pressure sensitive. I run them a little higher than the pressures recommended in my car handbook (which was recommended by the MD at Vredestein UK when I contacted him to pose the question). For me, an extra 5psi on 225/55 16's it makes all the difference to the handling, especially if temps warm up a bit.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| planeurge wrote: |
For the second winter running I am driving on Vredestein Wintrac 4 xtremes. I am not convinced they are as good as they claim to be.
I have been doing a survey in snowy car-parks, and my provisional results (very small sample) are that Michelins, Pirellis and Continentals are better. But best of all seem to be Nokian WRs and Cooper Discoverers. |
Been running these Vredesteins on our Pathfinder for two seasons. Thoroughly impressed. Never felt anything but sure-footed in the most extreme conditions.
Not sure how a survey in a car park can suggest any tyre is better than any other......... only way is to drive them back to back on the same car in the same conditions - a luxury few of us could ever afford.
All of this is rather academic for two reasons of course:
1. You can't get any
2. The OP has an A3 so won't be needing Wintrac 4 Extremes
More useful comment: Camskill are showing stock of Nokains in the size you want: http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m11b0s629p62577
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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MazDave, No, I didn't take them for a spin while their owners were not looking: I just checked which tyres did not have clogged up treads.
Tatty, that's not boring: I'll give it a try.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| DAVE 2227 wrote: |
Put some Nokian WR G2s on my car for the winter.Seem to be doing a nice job and look OK as well if that matters.
Check out My Tyres as they do the tyres fitted to steelies also and for some it works out at £10 extra a wheel fitted.
HTH |
Me too on the Scooby... you can get them rated to 149mph and they are the same price as the lower rated ones. Makes sense if you are gonna run them all year round.
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Been running Wintracs for 7 seasons, on a Focus & an A3, had no problems.
Regularly drive past stuck 4x4s putting chains on.
Don't even have chains for the A3 !
They are usualy at 'normal' tyre pressure, rather than the lower pressure reccommended by the manufacturer.
No complicated driving reason, its just the dealer checks the tyre pressure incorrectly when I have it serviced before heading out to the Alps !
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Email received from Canskill yesterday
Winter Tyres listed as Not Available currently have no due date.
Please check regularly for updates.We can offer no more due date
information than that listed on the website.
Most manufactures are now making Summer tyres, as all Countries where its required by
law to have winter tyres have them fitted. There are no laws in the Uk, so we get very
little in the way of winter tyres, And due to the Early snow stocks went very quickly.
I've ordered from MyTyres who appear to be EU based. Very little/no availability elsewhere
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Mytyres.co.uk seem to have stock and choices. They come from Germany but mine were very quick to arrive, ordered Thursday and delivered Tuesday. Made a huge difference when driving in the Welsh snow in December.
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I got 4 Goodyear Ultrgrip 7+ from blackcircle.com, which are a pretty highly rated tyre. Now where is that snow??
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Leaving aside the issue of actually getting winter tyres at the moment, the major problem I ran into when I did some research a while ago was finding some wheels to put them on. Other than MyTyres.co.uk who offer a 'tyre & wheel' deal, I don't know where to source cheap steel wheels. What did you all do - did you have your existing wheels re-shod or did you buy spare wheels on the web in the hope that they would fit?? Or is it time to visit the breakers' yards?
The (original manufacturer's) wheels on my 2002 Seat Leon 1.9TDI are 15" but I've seen websites that have asked for more info re size - something like 'J6' (can't remember) but I have been unable to find this info - it's not in the handbook and I don't know where else to look. I suspect they are 6 x 15" but how do I find out for sure??
And finally (!) what's the general feeling on the 'insurance company doesn't like non-standard wheels' problem? Is it a problem??
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Red Leon, ebay lists loads of wheels, with or without tyres. I bought a set of wheels for my Forester that came off another Forester therefore as they're identical OEM parts it's not a modification so there's no insurance issue.
Failing that you get your local tyre fitter to put them on the existing wheels.
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Tatty, I put some more air in. Difficult to know what the recommended pressure is. The handbook merely says "consult tyre manufacturer." I couldn't find Vredestein's recommendation on the internet. So I have taken them up to the max pressure marked on the tyre - 31psi. No sticky slush to test them on at the moment - we're having a heatwave.
Red Leon, I trawled the internet for wheels. But when I bought the car it had 18" wheels on it. Lower spec models have 17". And you can "upgrade" to a bigger wheel as an extra in either case. I suggested to the dealer that when he got a customer wanting an upgrade he could ring me and I would buy the discarded smaller wheels. He did, and sold me a set of 17" alloy wheels for £200. Advantage, they are designed to fit. Also the winter tyres being higher profile, the overall diameter is about the same. And the tyres were significantly cheaper than the bigger size. The dealer swaps them over for me each season, without charge. (But he probably has the wrong idea about tyre pressures.)
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You know it makes sense.
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planeurge, It is on the UK website on the RHS. Go to tyre selector, then do your search by car, model and type, then it comes up with an appropriate selection of tyres and their associated recommended pressures. I found my ideal pressure to be between their recommendations, and my car manufacturers recommendations.
Red Leon, ebay for me too. Just got an identical set of 4 alloys for less than the price of a couple of steels...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Tatty, Thanks for that. It recommends 33 on the front (although the tyre itself is marked 31 max!) and 30 on the rear. I've got 31 all round now. When it gets colder, I'll see what it's like, and perhaps let them down slightly. They were quite a long way underinflated before.
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